


Those Who Wait

by Adarian



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: But very sad fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 07:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adarian/pseuds/Adarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leia promises Rey to treat Finn as her own family while Rey goes to find Luke. Finn surprises her with how kind and gentle he is, despite his years in the First Order. Leia watches as Finn adapts to his new life and finds herself finding a semblance of peace herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Who Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Written post VII, pre any info about VIII. 
> 
> I watched this movie four times in theatres. That is an absurd amount of times.

Even though both she and Leia agreed it had to be done, Rey had not wanted to leave D'Qar. It was only after days of quiet talks and reassurances that Ray had finally agreed to go. 

The two women understood each other on a level others could not fathom. They could sense the other's presence, feel the other's thoughts and moods. For Leia, it was like having Luke back even for a short time. It only reminded her how much she missed her brother. Especially now when she needed him home most. Rey understood that. She understood so deeply the need for family.

Leia had promised Rey that she would look after Finn. A brother for a brother, Leia had teased, her first attempt at a joke since Han had been ripped from her. 

Rey had said little, but simply nodded. Leia would see her off later, but Rey would still keep her thoughts as tightly to herself as possible. When the Falcon left the system, Leia could still feel her energy, even if it was just a simplistic sense that Rey was alive. It was the same feeling that reassured her that Luke was safe.

Leia could not sit at Finn's bedside day and night as Rey would have, but she stopped by twice a day. The medic had explained to her that Finn might be able to hear her and respond to her, but it was unlikely he would remember anything from his coma. So Leia read to him. She read the same adventure stories that she had liked as a child, the same ones she had read to Ben as he grew up. There was a comfort remembering these two joyful periods in her life. For a moment she could close her eyes and pretend, even if not entirely. She could still feel her son's pain...and could no longer feel Han's.

About six cycles later, Finn started stirring from his slumber. Leia had been in the middle of a debrief, but sent an aide to sit beside Finn so he wouldn't be alone when he woke up. Leia ended up returning in time and she held his hand as he opened his eyes for the first time.

"Rey, is Rey okay?" He whispered hoarsely.

"She's fine," Leia reassured. "She's just fine. You're back on D'Qar. You've been out for about eleven cycles. Medic Traynor has promised that you'll make a full recovery, but it will be awhile before we can send you out in the field."

"Where's Rey?"

Leia tried to hide her smile. "She's off world. She's gone to find Luke Skywalker."

Finn's face fell. "She left?"

"Rey will come back," Leia said. "I've promised her that I'd make sure you were safe until she returns. I'm hoping we can work closely together. You have a lot of information that could help us. First though, we need to get you better. You should be able to walk again soon, but I warn you, it will hurt."

Finn winced as he sat up and swung his legs over the table. "I can deal with that." 

When he pressed his feet to the floor, he gasped out. Leia helped him get onto his back again. He caught his breath.

"Take your time," she said. "Get some rest still. I'll check in on you while I can. I'll let Poe know you're awake. The kid has been asking about you every time he checks in, he'll be relieved."

Finn closed his eyes in exhaustion, murmuring thanks.

Over the next fourteen cycles, Finn started to gain control of his legs. He walked uneasily but forced himself through his recovery. Traynor had explained to Leia that Finn had been injected with growth hormones and adaptive cells presumably during his training in the First Order. While he had the body of a man in his twenties, Finn was probably closer to eighteen years. He was healing much faster than most humans she had ever seen even if the scars on his back might never soften. 

Finn always kept himself busy, a key sign of his regimented childhood. But his activities often surprised Leia. She would call on him several times in a day for insight and always found him somewhere new on the base, chatting with people even she hadn't met before. Finn made friends with everyone he met, wanting to know everything about their lives. He would sit listening to them, utterly enamoured with the mundane details of their days. He laughed a lot, a sweet and honest laugh. 

Leia couldn't typically sense the emotions of others who weren't force sensitive. Not clearly, at least. She was never trying to, thinking it unethical to spy on another. But she sensed Finn so easily. It wasn't necessarily his strength in the Force but how deeply he felt emotions. Luke had once told her that Jedi hunters of old used to focus on their baser emotions like envy or wrath to block Jedi from reading their thoughts. But Finn's feelings were those of excitement and of joy. He was delighted to be in the Resistance, to meeting new people, to learning new things, and to be free. 

Though she never would have suspected it, in many ways he reminded her of Luke when he was young. So earnest and sincere, so willing to completely open his heart to anyone who might take a chance on him. Finn may have been hesitant at first to confide in Leia, but over the cycles, he revealed so much about his own life in the First Order. Hearing his suffering as a child soldier tore at her, knowing how many Stormtroopers there were living that same life. Even more so at seeing how utterly human Finn was. There were thousands of men and women out there who could have the same heart, the same passion, the same tenderness. Maybe they could be saved too.

Leia's daily schedule was always changing, which was more difficult as she grew older. Going thirty hours without sleep was doable in her twenties, but in her early sixties it was only manageable when the planet was literally on fire. She did however always try to take a two-hour nap at 2100 hours, just when the sun started to set. And each night she managed to get her nap in, she would cross the compound's airfield to the barracks and see Finn sitting on the top of the hill, watching the ships come in and out of the base. Sometimes BB-8 or Poe would sit with him, or one of the new friends he seemed to make daily. But often he was alone. 

After noticing this pattern, Leia often thought about offering to join him, but hesitated. She could sense his mood from where she was. He wasn't lonely, he was pining. He wanted one specific girl in the entire galaxy and he was waiting, as patiently as he could, for her to come home. He didn't talk about her much, but he didn't have to. It was the way he looked at the sky with that deep longing in his very being. She was out there and he wanted to be with her. 

Leia had tried to get word out to Rey when Finn first recovered but had received no reply. She wasn't worried, she could feel Rey's energy stronger every day. But it would be hard to convey that to Finn in a way he might understand. 

One night it was raining and Leia finally climbed up the hill. 

"You should get out of the cold," she insisted, holding her jacket over her head. 

"I will," Finn promised. "Just a few more minutes."

She sat beside him, holding the jacket over them both. She glanced at him, the water still beading on his skin. His chest rose and fell shakily, almost shivering. He leaned against her shoulder and she brought in the jacket closer around them. Leia kissed the top of his head.

She let Finn chose when they went back into the barracks. Once they were inside, Leia embraced him. The much taller Finn did not hesitate to squeeze her tightly. She let go and held him at arm's length. 

"Go get some dry clothes and have some rest," she ordered. "I don't want you to get sick when we've just finished raising you from the dead."

"Yes, ma'am," Finn agreed.

Leia patted his shoulder and walked towards her own room, glancing over her shoulder as Finn headed up the stairs. Once she was in her own room, she sat on the bed as close a meditating position as her knees would allow. 

Not for the first time, she closed her eyes and tried to feel for Rey. It was hard, but she could make her out, like one soft light in a brightly lit room. Leia smiled weakly, sensing Luke as well. Reassured, she stood slowly and started to ready for bed.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know this is my second chosen family story in a row. I'm fine, I'm just going through some shit.


End file.
